South Korea said 13 IP addresses have already been traced to North Korea

South Korea says a recent cyberattack against its banks and broadcast systems was launched by North Korea, further straining the relationship between the two.

On March 20, about 48,000 computers and servers in South Korea were shut down due to a cyberattack. The attack affected bank systems for about two to five days, and even prevented TV broadcasters from accessing news systems. Nine companies -- three broadcaster, four banks, and two insurance companies -- were attacked by infectious malware.

According to officials in Seoul, about six computers in North Korea were behind the attack. They said a military-run spy agency in North Korea had used over 1,000 IP addresses in 40 countries overseas to launch the attack, and about 13 of those addresses have already been traced to North Korea.

While Seoul officials are still investigating the matter, they firmly believe that North Korea's role in the attack will only become more apparent as the investigation rolls on.

North Korea hasn't been able to stay out of trouble lately. For instance, the country has been conducting nuclear tests over the years, which the UN has frowned on. The first North Korean nuclear test in 2006 was under 1 kiloton and the second in 2009 was about 2-7 kilotons. The third, which occurred this past February, measured "approximately several kilotons."

China, growing tired of North Korea's behavior as well, imposed harsh sanctions on the country in an attempt to prevent further nuclear actions. Under the new sanctions, China and others who trade with North Korea can no longer define what a luxury item is -- meaning that many items such as yachts, luxury automobiles, and certain jewelry are now banned.

However, this doesn't appear to be helping, since North Korea has decided to restart an old nuclear reactor for both electricity and military purposes. The 5MW nuclear reactor at the Yongbyon nuclear plant is aged (from the Soviet era) and has been closed since 2007. It shut down due to one of its cooling towers blowing up.

According to North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un, this isn't necessarily an effort to create a confrontation with the United States. Rather, the nuclear weapons would serve as a deterrent to ensure North Korea's safety.

Personally I think that a multinational surgical strike against this wacko, and his toadies (re: mil officers)would be for the benifit of all. NATO (well almost anyone) can easily win the hearts and minds or NK's people by......BRINGING THEM FOOD!

First let me say I love the Korean people, and that I don't want this to turn into a racial argument, but having worked with both the Korean military, and civilians, they are one dimensional thinkers i.e. I do A, then B, followed by C. They are totally unable to skip from A to C even if step B is not needed. Why am I telling you this, because I don’t think giving them food would get you much support, because it wouldn’t figure into their process of thinking. North Korean’s have been taught from birth that American’s, and the rest of the world, are people who deceive others to get what they want, so they would see an offering of food as a trap, or an effort to seduce them, and wouldn’t be able to make the leap of faith it would take to see that someone offering them food would be doing it because the care for their follow human beings. Many of the North Korean population believe their leaders are almost Gods. If you have nothing, are starving, and have been taught that the rest of the world is worse of then you, and a government official gives you a little bit of food every so often, you would soon see the government as your savior when in fact the are enslaving you. This practice is done here in the U.S. with welfare and food stamps just not to the degree it is done in Korea.

I appreciate the argument you are making. People see others as they see themselves, so western cultures do often have a hard time understanding why other cultures can't follow something that seem so simple and obvious to their understanding and mindset. Just like people who studied and understood Iraq's various peoples knew the offensive was going to be the big fail whale if has become.